Sony’s New Third-Party Relations VP: We’ll “Continue to Focus on Indie Games and Unique Partnerships”

January 18, 2017Written by Jason Dunning

In an article on GamesBeat, former Harmonix COO Florian Hunziker has revealed that he’s taking over the position of Vice President of Third-Party Relations at Sony Interactive Entertainment, where he’ll work with third-party publishers and developers. The position was previously held by Adam Boyes, who left SIE last summer to return to games development.

As Hunziker explains, his early focus will be placed on two key areas. The first is making sure their partners – big or small – get support to easily develop for PlayStation platforms and get rewarded for creating great experiences. The other is making sure gamers know they were correct in choosing PlayStation:

I will also focus on making sure our fans know they made the right choice when they chose PlayStation. Its incumbent on us to make sure we’re doing everything we can to maintain a diverse gaming library. I think it is important to provide vibrant and diverse content to PlayStation fans. We want to focus on both huge IPs and smaller developers who are willing to take risks to bring something new and innovative to PlayStation. The industry will thrive from a varied and vibrant development community delivering games that engage and amaze gamers.

In addition to confirming that Sony will “continue to focus on indie games and unique partnerships,” Hunziker said he wants to continue bringing diverse content to PlayStation from both indies and publishers.

On the subject of exclusivity, he knows it’s a polarizing topic in the game industry, but he also understands that “there’s a great deal of creative innovation that would never happen without a first party taking on significant financial responsibility. I’m fired up to be joining a company that’s not afraid to take these risks and bring compelling IPs to market.”

Asked if Sony would attempt to make another deal like the one they made with Capcom for Street Fighter V’s console exclusivity, Hunziker replied, “We’re definitely not going to shy away from trying new things.”